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I found a large, all-cotton napkin at the local IKEA store recently. Been using this as my go-to handkerchief as it’s thicker than the usual handkerchiefs and very absorbent. Helps me to cut down my use of tissue paper.

No, it’s not a St. Patrick’s Day reference. Rather, it’s H&M’s new push to support textile recycling. In this age of cheap and fast fashion, tons and tons of clothes are being sent to landfills every year, which creates a severe problem.

I am certainly guilty of the consumerism. Though I donate clothes that no longer fit or I no longer enjoy, we’ve all had the ratty tees, stained shirts and ripped/torn clothing that can’t go anywhere else but the dump.

Or so we think!

All H&M stores in the US now accept clothing for recycling, and for your efforts, you will receive a 15% off coupon for any single item. Not bad!

Here’s what you can do as a conscious shopper:
– Choose organic or less-toxic options
– REDUCE – Go for quality over quantity: investing in one good piece is better than buying a whole bunch of cheap items that quickly fall apart
– REUSE – Rethink your clothes. Do you always wear something the same way, with the same items? Mix it up! Wear a skirt as a dress, repurpose an accessory (necklace as bracelet?) etc.

– TRADE & CAP: Host a clothing swap: Instead of buying new all the time, gather friends and friends-of-friends for a swap meet! I was recently invited to one, which, I was really sad I couldn’t attend:

– “FREECYCLE”: Heard of Freecycle? It’s a community-based effort where you offer what you don’t want, and someone can request to have it. Vice versa, someone can also ask for something and if you have it, you can respond.

Case in point, I have twice responded to requests for “XS/S clothing for corporate job”. I had a whole bunch of shirts, pants, A-line skirts etc that I don’t wear anymore and was glad that the clothing was going to someone specific who needed them, not just languishing in Goodwill/Salvation Army etc.

– RECYCLE: Clothes that are too tattered for thrift stores can still find it’s way to textile traders that use clothing scraps for insulation, industrial applications and other “upcycled” purposes.

Now I sure wish The Closettes were all in one country again! We would do so good with a clothing swap!!